TKC!

First I searched for “Geometry” in the forum tab.  I found a few people talking about a program called “Geogebra” that sounds very interesting. I think I can use in the computer lab to solve equations or graph functions.

Then, I found a high school math teachers link under the groups tab. The teachers were sharing ideas on activities and lesson plans with special needs students.  They gave practical examples, links to other websites, and also shared their difficulties with certain lessons. It was encouraging to see so many teachers sharing and helping each other. It was like an online support group. Since I’m the only geometry teacher at my school, I can see myself using this website to connect with other teachers and get ideas.

The  Math Interactives Table contained links to tons of math websites.

I watched a great video called The Evolution of Education Through Entertainment on how to know when you’re students have learned something.  If a student can take information and” recycle it–take it and make it into something new”, then they’ve learned it.  It talks about learning in a virtual environment (LIVE).

As for twitter, it might be another way for me to connect with other teachers.  I like the image of using twitter as “fishing” for others’ ideas.  Maybe I can tweet about teaching a particular topic and see what comes back. I’m a bit overwhelmed between reading my RSS feeder, reading other people’s blogs, wikis, looking through their delicious bookmarks and I’m not quite sure where to start.  I need to be efficient with my time online and be able to search effectively for things I can use. I just don’t want to waste my time. I need to find my own personal gold mine.  Someone who thinks like me and uses things that I would probably use.  Time to start looking!

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Suicidal Shrimp?

An article by Teresa Shipley explained how the amount of Prozac found in the water may be having an effect on the marine life, especially shrimp. Apparently, it made the shrimp “5 times more likely to swim toward light” which might make them an easy prey for fishermen.  This is not normal behavior for shrimp.  How does this happen in the first place? When human waste is pumped into the sewer, it is filtered, but the water isn’t necessarily clear of all drug compounds.

Prozac is officially known as a human antidepressant called fluoxetine.

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We’re in the homestretch and I haven’t deleted the shared document or any of my posts yet! Fingers crossed!

Can you only share with people who have gmail accounts? It was fairly easy to use. It was difficult to delete the table once I created it. I did not like the equation editor as much as Microsoft Word.  It took a few tries to make a fraction–needed to tab key. Also, I couldn’t make my personalized bold lines very easily, but the ready made ones were not that bad.

For professional use, it might be nice to have the students use this to create study guides and quizzes. Each student from a group of 5, could contribute a question from the lesson and we could take it the next day in class. ( Show it on the LCD projector).  The students could also make powerpoints to review for tests or make a jeopardy game. Each group could be in charge of a column of 5 questions. Talk about delegation at its finest!

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I watched a great geometry project from Chris Petranek and how skateboarding incorporated geometry ideas and vocabulary.

Skateboarding video

How to find the length of a tangent line.  I watched the Evolution of Dance and it’s sequel again just for kicks. They’re my favorites.

I watched a video on how to do the waltz. The Viennese waltz is in 6/8 time and the basic waltz is in 3/4 time.  Step every beat. It’s basically a box step.

On teachertube.com I watched a video on Surface area but for some reason the ad it started with didn’t stop before the actual teaching video began. It was a bit annoying.

This video didn’t come from Youtube.com but I saw it on another teacher’s website. It’s by Bre Pettis. He shows how to make an icosahedron out of paper plates.

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I actually don’t hate the sound of my voice. I think it’s because I was reading something and not just making it up as I go along. I have been chosen to read at all the weddings and funerals in my family because of my reading skills.  It was difficult to choose something to talk about, but a recipe seemed pretty easy and short.  This seems like a fun way to send someone a message instead of writing them too.

As for using them in the classroom, it might be nice to record myself explaining a lesson or having the students create them for study guides and summarizing lessons.  I think videos would be better though.

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I had no idea so much information was available for free. I could learn something new everyday, if I had the discipline of course.  Some subjects interested me such as Spanish lessons, pilates, vocabulary word of the day and a podcast on procrastination by Timothy Pychyl.  Some of these contained advertisements that dragged on for minutes.  One of the Spanish ones used language that wasn’t quite appropriate. The pilates videos were simple and short, but took a long time to open.  As far as using this in the classroom, I found one on triangular numbers, but the man narrating was very monotone, too subdued and had a thick accent.

For personal use, I might try some history podcasts or something related to Psychology.

I also watched one on how Krispy Kreme donuts are made. Fascinating!

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It’s a great opportunity to engage in conversations about the stories, themes or characters.  Students might like this as an assignment to talk to others about their summer reading.  It’s motivating to know that other people are reading the same thing as you and have something to say about it.

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I have a list of bookmarks mostly related to mathematics activities.  Delicious is an overwhelming website. There are so many different paths and links to choose. It’s easy to get lost in there!

I found a few fun ones.  I just wish I didn’t need a yahoo account to take advantage. I already made a list of websites I like on my wikispace. My stuff’s in too many places now. Getting confused! It will be nice to have a new place to search for specific websites.

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Some interesting stories I have read:

Is Television Harmful for Children on the Discovery News blog by Cristen Conger.  Basically, I’ve dated a lot of guys who are addicted to television and I think it’s tragic that we can’t think of anything better to do or talk about. Does this stem from a childhood of t.v.watching?  The experts say to limit t.v. watching to two hours and that two year old should not have any exposure at all.  According to Deborah Linebarger, assistant professor of communication at the University of Pennsylvania, kids with more t.v. exposure tend to have poorer language skills.  Other research shows that kids who watch a lot of t.v. can be fatter.  The commercials play a role in that too.  The bottom line was to limit t.v. watching and what is watched, should be educational.  Amen!

Another posting I liked was about an Origami robot that actually folded itself. The creators programmed it to receive electrical impulses and fold into the shape of a boat and a plane.  Magnets help the folds stay in place. Pretty cool! Mr. Wizard would love it.

Lastly, I was amazed by the challenges that Dr. Dan gave to his students in the post We had too much time on our hands. These were probably exciting for the kids to try.  Especially the ones where they had to find out information about certain teachers. I thought it was good that he mentioned the trouble with class disturbances trying to find the mystery student schedule.

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